 This past weekend, we attended a baby shower for our son and his wife. Our daughter-in-law and her friend did most of the planning and preparation for it, and did a marvelous job.
The first thing I noticed was the cookies they decorated. Since the shower had a “bee” theme, they made sugar cookies which looked like flowers and honey bees. Once you look at the photo, I am sure you will agree they did an amazing job decorating the cookies! They also did a great job of organizing several fun activities. (I’ll be honest, I sometimes don’t enjoy the games at showers, but I thoroughly enjoyed this afternoon.) One of their challenges required prep work ahead of time to obtain baby photos from the guests, but once they mounted the photos on a large poster board, people had a fun time trying to guess the most correctly. And later on, watching teams of people trying to see how quickly they could change the diaper on a doll was a hoot. Some of the other activities were less competitive, but no less fun. My daughter-in-law had baked several dozen cupcakes when she set on a table along with tubes of colored frosting and various containers of sprinkles. Guests had a ball decorating their own cupcakes. And those who were feeling even more artistic could then move to the next table over, where plain white bibs and onesies were waiting to be decorated with fabric paint. This proved quite popular also, and as an added bonus, my son and his wife ended up with many personalized items for their new baby afterwards. In short, it was a wonderful day, and well worth the hours of travel required to attend it. I did regret not getting a blog out last week because of this, but I felt certain you all would understand. After all, new grandchildren do not come along every day, and milestones like this are meant to be savored. So now, I am shifting back into “normal life again. The baby shower is over, and most of the tasks we needed to complete prior to selling our house have been dealt with. Perhaps now I can focus a bit more on my writing while I am waiting for the new baby to come and for our new home to be determined. If you continue reading in the coming weeks, I will keep you posted as to how both events are progressing.
1 Comment
Since my spring fever is spiking right now, I decided this installment of “If These Walls Could Talk” should include flowers as well as a house. I think this photo fits the bill perfectly. Better yet, it combines romance and mystery in its story.  The lovely flowers in the foreground give it a lush, summery, welcoming air. Yet at the same time, the narrow path leading to the old buildings in the background gives it a sense of curiosity and adventure.
What do you suppose lies at the end of this path? Is it a charming home, with children playing in the yard and a fresh-baked pie cooling on the windowsill? Or is an empty, tattered shell clinging to its fading memories? Is it derelict and abandoned, or still well-preserved and much-loved? Looking at this photo gives me the urge to make my way down the path and find out. No matter what lies at the end of the path, the flowers along the way would make it worthwhile. And if I were really lucky, perhaps the buildings would tell me some fascinating stories about the previous owners. That is, If These Walls Could Talk.  For some reason this year, I am more impatient than ever for spring to arrive. Perhaps this is because our cold weather has not been interspersed with many of the warm days which encourage us to hang on until spring is really here. One effect of my spring fever is that I have been noticing more articles recently about gardening in ways to encourage the proliferation of bees, as well as attracting more butterflies and hummingbirds to a garden. Since they are all useful as well as beautiful, I was curious to see if it is possible to attract all three with the same plants and methods, and did a little internet research. It is! I quickly found several good sites with information about attracting one or all of the little flyers. Some of the general tips I consistently saw included:
 As I looked at the tips, and the lists of flowers for each (bees, butterflies and hummingbirds) I started noticing some flower names appearing more than once.
Here is a list I compiled of flowering plants which seem to attract all three:
Here are more flowering plants which attract at least two of the three:
I hope these lists inspire you to plant a few of the flowers above in your garden this year, or even in a window box. Our colorful little flying friends will appreciate it. And if you enjoyed this blog, please sign up for my email list. I will appreciate that. In the meantime, try to enjoy spring (I hope it exists wherever you are) and I will return next week with my next blog. |
AuthorI write historical fiction, and I invite you to share the journey to published author with me. Archives
December 2022
Categories |
RSS Feed
